Loop-buckle.



T. W. PORTER.

LOOP BUCKLE.

APPLIOATION FILED OCT 5 1908.

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7QIIWTNESHSES ATTORNEY COLUMBIA PLANOGRAIH (IO-.WASHINGTON. D. c,

UNITED STATESlfATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS W. PORTER, OF TUXEDO PARK, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO THE PATENT BUTTON COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON- NECTIOUT.

LOOP-BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 10, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

3e it known that I, THOMAS WV. PORTER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Tuxedo Park, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loop-Buckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in loop buckles for use upon articles of clothing, and more particularly upon the ends of the shoulder straps of overalls, and designed to engage with a button secured to the garment.

The objection heretofore urged against the use of loop buckles is the tendency of the same to become disengaged from the button, particularly when the suspenders or straps are worn somewhat loose, or when the strain on the loop and button is relieved, as when the wearer bends or stoops over.

As is well known, buttons are provided with hubs or shanks of different sizes, and while a loop may be so shaped or constructed as to effectually engage and lock therein a button having a certain size hub, a button having a larger hub will not properly fit in the loop, and a button having a smaller hub or shank will become disengaged therefrom. Many ways and means have been devised whereby this objection will be overcome, and to so construct the loop that it will be adapted for use in connection with buttons having different size hubs, as for instance, loops have been constructed with yielding sides and an auxiliary loop depending therefrom. Again, loops have been constructed with two or more auxiliary loops to fit different size hubs, but so far as I am aware, none of these means have proved satisfactory in that they fail to render the loop universal, that is, permit of its use in connection with any and all size buttons and effectually prevent the accidental disengagement of the loop therefrom.

The object of my invention is to so construct the loop that it may be employed in connection with buttons having different size hubs, and which will positively lock the button therein.

With this and other ends in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 1s a View in elevation of my improved loop buckle secured to a strap or suspender, and engaging with a button. Fig. 2 is a sectional View thereof taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the manner of engaging or disengaging the button therefrom. Fig. 4: is an edge View of the detached loop buckle. Fig. 5 is a modified form thereof. Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the loo-p buckle illustrated in Fig. 5 and engaging a button. Fig. 7 is a detached view of a modified form of the buckle. Fig. 8 is a View taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 is a sectional view of a modified form of the buckle illustrated in Fig. 7, in having its depending resilient locking arms and the loop at its lower extreme end bent outwardly with relation to the body or sides. Figs. 10 and 11 are views in elevation of other modified forms of the loop buckle.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that my improved loop buckle is constructed of a single piece of wire and comprises a body formed of the two sides A, B, converging toward the bottom, the wire being formed into a lower loop 0 approximating the shape of the hub of a button. The upper ends of these sides A, B, are bent inwardly forming the horizontal arms D, E, and then downwardly forming the vertical arms F, G, the extreme ends of these vertical arms being preferably pointed for the purpose of piercing the end of a suspender strap or other portion of a garment H to which the buckle is to be applied. These arms F, G, have a certain amount of resiliency, are somewhat separated, and of a length to extend below and be covered or protected by the flange I of the button secured to the garment K, and with which the loop is designed to engage.

In practice, the end of the Suspender or strap H is passed between the arms F, G, and the sides A, B, of the loop, and the arms F, G, caused to pierce the same, whereby to attach said loop to the strap, the fabric holding against the horizontal arms D, E, when the loop is in proper position thereon.

In fastening the loop to the button, the

flange I of the latter is passed bet-ween the pointed arms F, G, and sides A, B, until the hub or shank L of the button fits in the loop C, whereupon by slightly tilting the button, the extreme pointed ends of said arms F and G will pass under or below the flange I of said button and be covered or protected thereby. By so forming the loop, it will be understood that the button cannot become accident-ally disengaged therefrom, as the vertical arms F, G, positively lock the button therein; if the locking arms F, G, be sufliciently close together, the hub when the button is raised, will strike against the pointed end of said arms, and if on the other hand, said'arms be more widely separated, the hub of the button will ride up between the same. In either instance, the flange of the button will overlie said arms and be prevented thereby from being accidentally disengaged from the loop buckle. In other words, these piercing or pointed arms F, G, perform two functions, that is, they hold the buckle in position on the strap or suspender, and at the same time hold the button in the loop G.

In order to detach the button from the loop, or the loop from the button, it is necessary to slightly pull the button downwardly, and at the same time tilt it, as illustrated in Fig. 3, whereby the edge of the flange I of the button may be pressed under or behind the extreme pointed ends of the arms F, G, and by then pressing the button upwardly into the widened portion of the loop buckle, it can be easily disengaged therefrom.

In order to facilitate the engagement of the button with the loop buckle, and its disengagement therefrom, I prefer to bend the loop C outwardly, and also the depending resilient arms F, G, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4: of the drawings, these parts in such instance, lying in a plane different from those of the sides A, B; this, however, is not essential as all of the parts of the loop buckle comprising the sides A, B, loop G, horizontal arms D, E, and the depending resilient locking arms F, G, may all lie in the same vertical plane, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6. Again, if it be desired to sew or stitch the loop buckle to the end of the suspender or strap, it may be constructed as illustrated in Fig. 7, that is, with a bar M, the ends of which are curved downwardly and looped or bent around the horizontal arms D E whereb the two arts are pivoted or hinged together. This modified form of loop buckle may have its difi'erent parts or portions all lying in the same plane, as illustrated in Fig. 8, or as illustrated in Fig.9, the vertical locking arms F, G, and the loop C may be bent outwardly to lie in a different plane from the sides A, B, in order to facilitate the engagement or disengagement of the button therefrom.

In Fig. 10 of the drawings, I have shown another modified form of the loop buckle wherein the horizontal arms 0, P, are

lengthened sufficiently to cross each other and be bent down to form the locking arms Q, R, this construction and arrangement adding somewhat to the strength of the article. Again, as illustrated in Fig. 11, the locking arms may be made of a separate piece of metal from the body of the buckle, a sheet metal tube S being employed to contain and conceal the ends of the horizontal arms T, U, said tube S being formed with the downwardly projecting locking arms V, W.

When the buckle is thus constructed, the tube S and locking arms formed thereon, may be tightly and immovably secured to the horizontal arms, or may be allowed to swing thereon, in order to facilitate the engagement or disengagement of the button from the buckle.

From the foregoing it will be understood that my invention is exceedingly simple, and as I have found by experiment, co1npletely effective in locking the button within the loop buckle, the locking arms F, G, overcoming all danger of any accidental disengagement of the button. Furthermore, by being formed of a single piece of wire, as illustrated in several of the figures of the drawings, it can be manufactured at a comparatively small cost.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A loop buckle of the class describedcomprising a body formed from a single piece of wire and of suflicient width at its upper end to admit a strap, and having a loop at its lower end adapted to engage a button; said body having two parallel resilient sharpened locking arms adapted to pierce a strap, said arms being located at the upper end of the body and opposite said loop and extending toward the same, and said arms lying entirely within the space bounded by said body and out of contact therewith, the arrangement of the several elements enumerated being such that said locking arms in addition to piercing the strap as aforesaid act also as resilient guard members to retain the button within the loop hereinbefore referred to.

2. A loop buckle of the class described comprising a body formed from a single piece of wire and of sufficient width at its upper end to admit a strap, and having a loop at its lower end adapted to engage a button; said body having two parallel resilient sharpened locking arms adapted to pierce a strap, said arms being located at the upper end of the body and opposite said loop and extending toward the same, and said arms lying entirely within the space bounded by said body and out of contact therewith; said body being bent adjacent said loop so as to bring the loop into a pomembers to retain the button within the loop sition to one side of the plane of said body hereinbefore referred to. and said arms lying in a plane inclined with Signed at New York, borough of Manreference to the plane of said body, and the hattan, in the county of New York, and

5 extremities thereof and said loop being sub- State of New York, this 3rd day of October, 15

stantially in one plane parallel with the A. D. 1908.

plane of said body the arrangement of the THOMAS WV. PORTER. several elements enumerated being such that WVitnesses: said locking arms in addition to piercing the M. VAN NORTWICK,

'10 strap as aforesaid act also as resilient guard JOHN B. WHITE.

7 0091:: of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C." 

